Syracuse Crunch 1/19/2013 11:00:00 AM

Crunch begin second half vs. Lake Erie

Preview

Game 39: Syracuse Crunch vs. Lake Erie Monsters
7:30 p.m. at War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

The second half of Syracuse's regular season begins at home Saturday in an inter-conference matchup with the Lake Erie Monsters, AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. This is the first of two meetings between the Crunch and Monster this season, down from four matchups a season ago. Saturday will be the only time the Monsters travel to the War Memorial Arena in Syracuse, as the Crunch will close out the season series in Cleveland Apr. 9.

Coverage
Listen to live play-by-play on The Score 1260 with pregame coverage starting at 7:15 p.m. For in-game updates on Twitter, follow @SyracuseCrunch and broadcaster @Dan_Duva. Check SyracuseCrunch.com for post-game recap. Pay-to-watch video is available on AHL Live.

Where they stand
The Monsters are 6-3-1-0 is their past ten games and 21-16-2-1 overall, good for 45 points, tied for fifth in the Western Conference and tied for second in the North Division. They have won two straight and four out of five, including a 3-2 victory Friday in Hershey. Lake Erie is 13-9-1-0 on the road vs. Syracuse's 8-5-2-1 record on home ice.

The Crunch (24-9-2-3) surrendered their league-best status Friday, with Binghamton (25-8-1-3) leaping Syracuse in the East Division and Eastern Conference standings. The Senators beat the Marlies, 4-2, while the Crunch suffered their second consecutive 4-1 loss to Rochester, the first time Syracuse has lost back-to-back games in regulation this season. Three of their nine regulation losses have come to Rochester. Friday Jared Nightingale scored his first Crunch goal and Kyle Wilson made his Syracuse debut.

Scouting the Monsters
The leading scorers for the Monsters are rookies Andrew Agozzino (13g-18a-31pts) and Mike Sgarbossa (14g-17a-31pts). Both had goals Friday in Hershey, and Sgarbossa had a three point night (1g, 2a). Tyson Barrie (6g-21a-27pts) is fourth on the AHL's defensemen scoring list, but is now with the Avalanche. Goalies Calvin Pickard and Sami Aittokallio, both rookies, have split time for the Monsters. Pickard has the better goals-against average (2.82 in 22 appearances) while Aittokallio has more wins (11-8-0 in 19 appearances).

Over the past five seasons, the Monsters are 10-5-1-0 vs. Syracuse, including a 5-2-1-0 record in Syracuse. Saturday's game will be just the second game against an Eastern Conference opponent for Lake Erie, after the Monsters play the Hershey Bears on Friday.

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